It's saddening that such a great story is wasted in such an incompetent film. The idea of a deeply religious Hindu woman, subservient to her domineering husband for years, finally summoning up the courage to stand up to him, is quite inspiring. It of course culminates in a great moment where she awards him with a hot slap in return for his, much to his shock and disbelief. This moment could have become a reference point in the history of Indian cinema had this film not been so poorly handled.
Indeed, the film is ruined by its own quest for commercialization which is evident all through - the high melodramatic stance, turning the heroine into this corny self-sacrificing female figure, the abundance of songs so often in the film, and above all the unnecessary secondary characters. So, Dimple Kapadia plays a very non-glamorous part, and in a poor attempt to make the film appeal to the masses, the makers cast two young actors to dance to some catchy songs as if to alleviate its seriousness. Quite pathetic.
The film is written by Mahesh Bhatt, who wrote some great female characters, but this one doesn't fall into that category. It's a challenging role on paper, but the film leaves no room for depth. To Dimple Kapadia's credit, she does the best of what she's given - she must have believed this film would have given her enough scope to perform (like Prahaar, Lekin, Drishti - all released around the time), but it turns out too bad to work. Even so, she remains the saving grace of this dull and underwhelming film.
Indeed, the film is ruined by its own quest for commercialization which is evident all through - the high melodramatic stance, turning the heroine into this corny self-sacrificing female figure, the abundance of songs so often in the film, and above all the unnecessary secondary characters. So, Dimple Kapadia plays a very non-glamorous part, and in a poor attempt to make the film appeal to the masses, the makers cast two young actors to dance to some catchy songs as if to alleviate its seriousness. Quite pathetic.
The film is written by Mahesh Bhatt, who wrote some great female characters, but this one doesn't fall into that category. It's a challenging role on paper, but the film leaves no room for depth. To Dimple Kapadia's credit, she does the best of what she's given - she must have believed this film would have given her enough scope to perform (like Prahaar, Lekin, Drishti - all released around the time), but it turns out too bad to work. Even so, she remains the saving grace of this dull and underwhelming film.
